


Kindness

by itzteegan



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Grief/Mourning, Loss, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:09:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27595966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzteegan/pseuds/itzteegan
Summary: After rendering his judgement, Lysander Lavellan visits Gereon Alexius in his cell for a little talk, to try to better understand the man to which Dorian Pavus compared all others.
Relationships: Inquisitor/Dorian Pavus, Lavellan/Dorian Pavus, Male Inquisitor/Dorian Pavus, Male Lavellan/Dorian Pavus
Kudos: 18





	Kindness

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to Lalaen for, once again, giving me the inspiration for this piece <3

Lysander’s light footsteps barely made a sound as he descended into the prison underneath Skyhold. Wrinkling his nose slightly, the smell of dust and mold and other things he didn’t want to even give name to filled his nostrils. Certainly not the most ideal place, even for a prison, but they were just settling in after their flight from Haven, and there had been other, more important things to tend to first rather than a prisoner’s comfort.

Nodding to the guard on duty, he swept past them, lavender eyes focused on one cell in particular, one that he knew held the man he wanted to talk to, the man he’d just judged earlier that day.

Gereon Alexius.

He looked up as he no doubt had heard someone coming, his shoulders drooping just a little more as he inquired, “Come to relish your victory? Ensure I’ll cooperate? You needn’t have. I understand when I’m beaten.”

The Inquisitor shook his head. “No, I just wanted to talk.”

Alexius looked surprised, perhaps even more so when Lysander motioned to the guard on duty and instructed him to unlock the door. “But Ser, what if he tries something?” the guard asked, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of unlocking the cell.

“You are a former Templar, are you not? Are you unable to handle one mage?”

The guard clapped his mouth shut and did as instructed, fishing out the key and putting it to lock before swinging open the cell door and stepping away, allowing Lysander to do as he pleased.

Alexius simply sat on the cot provided as a bed, while Lysander perched on a stool, putting them on more even footing. The man seemed reluctant to meet the Inquisitor’s gaze, but that didn’t bother Lysander. Two men could talk whilst not looking each other directly in the eye, of course.

Sighing, Gereon asked him, “So why did you come here? What did you want to talk about?”

“I was curious,” Lysander replied honestly.

Snorting, Gereon clarified, “Oh, wanted to see how the mighty have fallen, eh?”

“No.” Lysander cocked his head ever so slightly to the side. “Dorian said that you were a man to which he compared all others.” He chuckled as he added, “I admittedly have very little experience in the matter, as I’ve only known you as someone who wanted to kill me.”

To that, even Alexius chuckled softly. “Yes, such a great impression. I can only imagine what you think of me.” Pausing a moment, he asked, “Why did you do it, Inquisitor? Why spare me? You could have easily seized my assets without commanding me to look after the mages. I’m sure there are many who think you went easy on me, though truth be told …” sighing, he noted as he had after Lysander had rendered his judgement, “… the headsman would have been kinder.”

“I never said I was kind,” Lysander shot back, and to that Alexius lifted his head to see the serious expression on his face, an expression ever so slightly cracking with the way the edges of his lips turned upwards.

“Ah. So it’s not so much a punishment for everyone else to feel vindicated, is it?”

“If you ask for a punishment, is it really a punishment?”

Gereon inclined his head. “Very true. I …” pausing, he let his gaze drop back into his lap before he continued, “… I’ve been quite selfish as of late. I was not always like this, though I suppose Dorian could tell you better.”

“Of before? Yes. But he can only guess and conjecture as to why you’ve changed, why you joined a supremacy cult he insists you never would have ordinarily.”

A grin tugged at Alexius’ lips, but it wasn’t friendly or kind. Ruefully, he mused, “I am a broken man, Inquisitor. I loved my family dearly. I know that's a strange sentiment in the Tevinter upper class, but it's no less true. When my wife was killed and my son infected, I felt as if I could not go on. Over and over I wondered what I could have done differently, how I could have saved them, but it doesn’t matter. The time magic was nowhere near ready to perform, though I worked tirelessly on it, and after the Breach, well … it’s a moot point now.”

“And that’s what Corypheus offered you?”

His eyes turned glassy as he took a deep breath. “I don’t know you, Inquisitor, I don’t know how you feel about your family or how close you are. I’d like to think you have at least a few people who you would do anything for. My son … he was all I had left. I had to _try_. I was so desperate to keep him I gave no thought to the world around me. I saw only a solution and I took it. I didn’t believe in him, not truly. It was a means to an end … an end that never came.” His shoulders shook slightly in a quiet, sardonic chuckle. “And once more here I am, wishing I could undo the past.”

Lysander hummed, regarding the man before him. In Redcliffe, before he’d sent him and Dorian careening through time, he’d been posturing and boastful, confident and assured. In the alternate future, as he was after their return, he was defeated and resigned. Even though he no longer lived that future where Corypheus won and the Breach grew until it encompassed the world, Dorian had intimated that he’d talked with Alexius and told him, told him that Felix had never been cured, that he’d been lied to and led on. Perhaps he’d known it all along, in his heart of hearts, but so desperate was he for hope he’d latched onto anything he could … even if that _anything_ was an ancient Darkspawn Magister.

Looking back up at him, Alexius noted, “You never quite answered my question earlier. Why did you spare me? If you wanted me to live, you could have sent me off to prison.”

“I could have,” Lysander admitted, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “But you are someone very important to Dorian. And … Dorian is someone very important to me. I did want to see you punished, but not made an example of, for his sake if nothing else.”

Their eyes met as Gereon processed what Lysander had told him, and should he have wished, he could have pinpointed the exact moment that it clicked. “You love him.”

Lysander huffed good-naturedly. “I’m not sure if we’re at that yet, but … I do feel for him.”

Alexius nodded. “You’re a good man, Inquisitor. Were I still his mentor and not in the position I’m in, I would give you both my blessing. But I’m not sure that’s worth much these days.”

“Well, you never know. Sure, you’ll never be what you once were, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be _something_ again.” Leaning forward, he grasped Gereon by the arm as he told him, “Loss is a terrible thing to have to contend with, that I know well. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you felt pushed to this edge. But the Inquisition has walked you back from it. Don’t waste that opportunity. You have Dorian here, if no one else, don’t lose him, too.”

He took a deep breath as he murmured, “Thank you, Inquisitor. You are far kinder than I deserve.”

Lysander couldn’t help the growing smile. “I never said I was kind.”

With that, he stood once more, motioning to the guard to lock the cell back up. And as he walked back up the stone steps that would take him back outside, his sharp ears picked up a quiet sob.


End file.
